Piano Forum



Master Teacher Christopher Elton – Never Ending Impetus
With 50 years at the Royal Academy of Music and an international teaching career, Professor Christopher Elton has gained unique experience in how to coach accomplished artists. In this unique interview for Piano Street, Elton shares his insights and views on the big perspective. Read more >>

Topic: Help with piano homework  (Read 2406 times)

Offline ShEv

  • PS Silver Member
  • Newbie
  • ***
  • Posts: 2
Help with piano homework
on: November 13, 2002, 06:45:04 AM
My piano teacher gave me a new piano assignment for playing 3-part Bach Fugues.  She wants me to interchange the voices before putting the entire piece together.  My assignment is to play the soprano and alto voice, the soprano and bass voice and the alto and bass voices.  I am having a tough time with this because I can't just play the two voices without having to write in the appropriate fingerings that are going to be used to play the piece.  To me, it doesn't make sense to just play the voices with fingerings that are not going to be used to play the piece.  It's confusing me because in Bach fugues, you will often use the left hand to play the alto and base, the right hand to play the soprano and alto, etc.  to keep a continuous legato line.  I have become so frustrated with this assignment that I don't want to even look at another fugue.  Any suggestions for tackling this assignment?  You can email me at ShnEvt@aol.com.   ???
Shandra

Offline 88keys

  • PS Silver Member
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 126
Re: Help with piano homework
Reply #1 on: November 16, 2002, 12:57:28 PM
Indeed it seems to make little sense...

Why don't you ask your teacher WHY she asked you to do this? This would affect the way you should approach the excersice.

If the idea here is that to get you to know the music itself better, than there is nothing wrong with using different fingering or alternating hands.

If, on the other hand, there is some technical point in the excersice, the above would be a bad idea.

In any case, you are certainly entitled to know what's the point of the excersice you are given. If the teacher refuses to explain this to you, perhaps you should consider a different teacher.
 

Logo light pianostreet.com - the website for classical pianists, piano teachers, students and piano music enthusiasts.

Subscribe for unlimited access

Sign up

Follow us

Piano Street Digicert